Assessment of satisfaction levels of patients during dental outreach programs in rural part of Udaipur, India.

BACKGROUND: The community-based dental outreach programs play a very crucial role in declining discovery-delivery disconnect by introducing awareness through health education and dental adumbrating services to the community members. However, the success of any oral health programme depends largely on how it meets the needs and expectations of the target community. Therefore, the present study was designed for the assessment of patient satisfaction at various rural outreach dental camps conducted over a period of 2 months. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study was conducted on patients visiting weekly and monthly outreach dental programmes organised by the Department of Public Health Dentistry. Data were obtained from a total of 298 patients using a pre-tested questionnaire as a survey instrument. The questionnaire consisted of nine questions, measuring the patient satisfaction levels on a five-point Likert scale. RESULTS: The highest mean satisfaction score (4.97 +/- 0.59) was observed for the question on the overall performance of camp, whereas waiting time for treatment, quality of the treatment and explanation of need for referral exhibited lowest mean scores. The mean satisfaction scores for the monthly camp (4.55 +/- 0.52) were significantly higher as compared to the weekly camps (4.38 +/- 0.55) (P = 0.013). CONCLUSION: The results of the study showed that the patient satisfaction scores were satisfactory to good for various aspects of the weekly and monthly dental outreach programmes. Such programmes should be conducted on regular basis, and comprehensive oral care should be provided.